About two years ago, I went to Vietnam with my friend, Liv, and had an amazing time.

Fortunately, Liv had a family friend in Cambodia who knew of a local tourist operator, The Sinh Tourist, that is popular in Vietnam.

We checked out the website and decided to go with this tourist operator. And let's face it - we were impressed.

For the price: $57pp for a three-day, two-night tour, covering about half the meals, activities and two nights accommodation, it was a very good deal.

This tour was from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Phnom Penh Cambodia. On the way, we also went along the Mekong Delta.

We also used this tour operator to go on a day tour to see the Cu-Chi tunnels.

Now compared to booking a tourist through a New Zealand travel agency, there are definitely some pros and cons. It's really up to you what matters more.

Pros:

We saved some money.

We got to meet more Vietnamese people. On our tour bus over three quarters of the people were Vietnamese, so half of the time we had to wait for the tour guide to speak in Vietnamese before translating to English.

We got a direct recommendation.

Cons:

Peace of mind. I suppose it's nice have someone in front of you booking these things who's done it all before.